BioShock 2 Walkthrough & Strategy Guide

You've got questions, we've got answers. If you need help with something you didn't find in our guide, we can still help you. We publish the best and most common questions we get here—take a look to see if your question has already been answered. If your problem isn't addressed, feel free to shoot us an e-mail via the link at the bottom of this page.

Common questions...

» What is the keycode for the door in the therapy wing of Inner Persephone?

Listen to the Legs, Mouths, Arms and Eye audio diary and you'll get a clue for the password. Using the order that he lists the clues—brown legs, red mouths, blue arms, green eyes—count the numbers of described body parts on the paintings in the room. The door code is 4146. Getting into the room gives you access to some ammo and stuff, not much else.

» What does the "Unlock Framerate" option do?

In most cases, turning this option to "on" improves the framerate of the game. If you don't know what framerate is, it, uhh, basically determines how smooth the game moves. A higher framerate is better visually. The setting comes with the caveat "...but may degrade visual quality." I don't really perceive any degradation of visual quality, but it's possible that you will experience more variation in framerate (i.e. slowdown) or screen tearing during fast-moving sequences.

» Why I can't equip weapons? I can only use plasmids, the camera and the hack tool.

Because you've got the Drill Specialist gene tonic equipped. The Drill Specialist gene tonic reduces the EVE cost of using plasmids but limits you to equipping the drill, the research camera, or the hack tool, in addition to use of all of your plasmids.

» Do I have to play the game on Normal or Hard difficulty to earn Achievements / Trophies?

Nope! You should be able to earn most Achievements / Trophies playing the game on any difficulty. The only Achievement / Trophy that is difficulty-dependent is "Against All Odds."

» Do I have to play online to earn all Achievements / Trophies?

Yes! There are a number of Achievements / Trophies in BioShock 2 that require you play online in non-private matches.

» How do I get to the last Power to the People station?

The final Power to the People weapon upgrade station is locked in a secure room. Our walkthrough describes how to hack that door from an earlier / later part of the stage. See: Fontaine Futuristics walkthrough

» Will I be disadvantaged if I missed a Power to the People station?

Nah. Some of the weapons upgrades are vital, but definitely not all of them. See: Weapons & Upgrades

» Do I have to fight the big daddy?

Nope! But you should. Big daddies escort little sisters around the various levels. You need the little sisters to collect ADAM, the game's currency that's used for buying new Plasmids and other stuff. If you just ignore a big daddy and the little sister, they'll ignore you, too. But it's worth the effort to drop the big daddy in order to gain access to the little sister's ADAM.

» What difference does it make if I adopt or harvest little sisters?

Adopting little sisters lets you use them to gather extra ADAM from two nearby corpses. After you've executed two gathers, you can bring the sister to a sister vent and have the option of rescuing her or harvesting her. Harvesting her will give you more ADAM, but rescuing her will give you some bonus gifts, plus the game's good ending. See: Secret Endings

» Is it possible to revisit past levels like I could in the first BioShock?

Sadly, no. You can only move from one level to the next, never backwards to previously played levels. If you missed audio diaries or other collectibles in previous stages, you'll have to reload an old save file and restart the game from that point, or start a new game entirely.

» Can I ever get the Unstable Teleport plasmid?

When you try to grab the Unstable Teleport plasmid, it'll warp away from you and appear somewhere else. We've got a guide for tracking down the plasmid in our walkthrough. See: Fontaine Futuristics walkthrough

However, you will never be able to get the plasmid ability. Instead, chasing down the Unstable Teleport plasmid will lead you to the Vending Expert 2 gene tonic.

» So I don't purchase them unnecessarily, which plasmids and gene tonics do I find for free?

The only plasmids you get via normal game progress and do not need to be purchased are Telekinesis 1, Electro Shock 1 and Summon Eleanor. If you save the little sisters, you will eventually be gifted Hypnotize 1. For a list of gene tonics that you collect in the game, see our secrets section. See: Gene Tonic Locations

» Do the effects of gene tonics stack?

Like plasmids, gene tonics are available in multiple levels—for example, Hacker's Delight and Hacker's Delight 2—with the higher level versions offering more of whatever the tonic offers. Unlike plasmids, however, a higher level gene tonic does not replace the previouis one, so you can equip both Hacker's Delight 1 and Hacker's Delight 2 at the same time. Do the effects of both gene tonics get added together for an uber-effect? Yes. We think so. It's tough to tell, and our research has turned up mixed answers, but it appears as though the effects do stack, making it worth equipping multiple levels of the same gene tonic.

» What's the name of the main character?

"Subject Delta." I dunno if you're given a name other than that.

» When do I choose to spare or kill Crazy Gil Alexander?

At the end of the Fontaine Futuristics stage, after you get the key, you get one more button to press on the control panel. Pressing it kills Gil. Leaving the room without pressing the button spares him. See: Fontaine Futuristics walkthrough